New roads standards expected to stretch transportation dollars

Nebraska has updated its roads standards after several years of work with local and county transportation officials.

The new standards are designed to provide greater flexibility and scale down how much work is required when doing road projects.

Hall County Engineer Steve Riehle says it provides more local control over repair and resurfacing work.

“If we tried to attack a safety problem in the past that might be isolated and it might be one curb, or one bridge, or one culvert on a roadway, sometimes we’d have to improve two, three, or four miles of road, both of which cost time and money,” Riehle told reporters at a news conference.

He says the new roads standards also provide better guidance on safety issues and cost-analysis.

The Nebraska Board of Public Roads Classifications and Standards (NBCS) oversaw the development of the new standards, which now better align with the transportation industry nationwide.

“I’m convinced that we actually have road officials across the state with these new standards that will be out looking for and promoting and doing more work,” Roger Figard, NBCS chair said. “The more work that they’re doing, the more miles of safer roads we have for our citizens.”

Figard says there was no opposition to the new roads standards during the process of updating them.

“These changes simplify and streamline our design approaches, and they’re really right-sized for our communities, and that’s the important part,” Kyle Schneweis, Nebraska Department of Roads director said. “They give locals access to minimum design standards that will provide the flexibility they need to get the job done right.”